MasukRyker's POVEverything was too loud.Not the forest. Not the wind settling back into its usual rhythms now that the fight was over. Not the aftermath sitting heavy in the clearing.Them. Inside my head. Inside my chest.Duke snarled. "Make it stop."I tried. Shoved it down hard—pushed it out, blocked it, and told myself what was coming through the bond wasn't mine.It didn't work.The moment I pushed, it pushed back harder. Kael's restraint pressed against me—too controlled, too calm, too close to her. And underneath his control was that pull I recognized because I felt it too. That want. That instinct. That thing none of us had names for yet because it was too new and too shared and too impossible to separate into pieces that belonged to only one person.Duke snarled, and my fists clenched. But the feeling wasn't only mine — it was collective, amplified, impossible to be furious about in any clean direction.I looked up.Kael was standing near her. Not touching her, but close enough.
Ayla's POVEmotions rushed through my chest in waves—not just mine, not just one person's; they were too many and too fast and too intense to untangle.I couldn't find where I ended and they began; every feeling bled into the next—Kael's controlled guilt pressed against me like something heavy and persistent, Ryker's restlessness burned at the edges, and Soren's carefully contained tension hummed underneath everything.All of it, all at once—all mine, whether I wanted it or not."Tala," I whispered, feeling overwhelmed.She was there instantly, closer than before and stronger. "We are all connected.""I know that," I said. "I felt it happen. What I didn't understand was—"The word "How?" barely formed in my mind. "Kael was the one who marked me."Tala circled and stopped in front of me with her head tilted at that angle she used when deciding how much to say. "You really don't know?""No, I don't," I said.Tala watched me for a moment before she went on. "Only one needed to mark you,"
Kael's POVZander suddenly staggered, just slightly, barely noticeable, but I saw it, and Fenrir went completely still beside me. "Did you see that?""I did," I said, my eyebrows knitting.Zander tried to straighten, but his body didn't obey the same way anymore. His breathing was uneven. His stance was wrong in a way that had nothing to do with the fight."You—" I growled, but his voice faltered as real confusion flickered across his face before something else replaced it—panic.It hit him all at once, violent and uncontrolled.He doubled over, a strangled sound tearing from his throat, his hand flying to his chest like something inside him was trying to break free."The curse," Fenrir said quietly.Of course—Ayla's blood. Her choice. Her rejection.Zander gasped, eyes wide and terrified in a way he hadn't been through any of this, because he felt it now—what he did and what it was costing him."I marked her—" His voice cracked in desperation. "I claimed—""No."The word cut through
Ayla's POVPain surged through me in sharp, boiling waves.It moved inside me like something alive—spreading, twisting, and pulling in different directions at once.I gasped, air barely reaching my lungs. My body trembled with the effort of staying present when everything wanted to drift, but I wasn't alone. I felt them—all of them.Kael was the closest, his steady heartbeat echoing in mine like an anchor.Ryker was wild and explosive, every strike he threw reverberating through the connection.Soren was sharp and controlled, straining at the edges, holding everything together through sheer precision.The bond wasn't one thread anymore—it was three. The bond was now intertwined, layered, breathing, and alive; however, it was also deeply and dangerously unstable."Ayla," Tala’s voice was different—stronger, older somehow. Like something in her had surfaced that was always there but never needed to be. "This is not supposed to happen."I knew; I could feel the truth of it in every pulse
Kael's POVDid I hear her right? She wanted me to mark her? Was she delusional?The words didn’t make sense—not here, not now. The trees blurred past, her weight in my arms, and the sounds of war continued to tear through the dark behind us.Fenrir stirred uneasily. "She means it," he said.That was exactly the problem. Her body shifted against my chest, weak, a soft sound escaping her that landed somewhere painful. The scent of her blood was stronger now—wrong in a way that had nothing to do with the wound and everything to do with what was spreading beneath it. Zander’s incomplete mark wasn’t just sitting there—it was trying to force the mate symbol on her, working at the edges of something it was never meant to touch.If I didn’t act—I stopped cold in a small clearing. Moonlight cut through the canopy in thin, pale strips. We weren’t far enough from the cabin, but it had to be enough. There wasn’t time for further discussion.I lowered her carefully and knelt in front of her. My h
Ayla's POVEverything felt distant, muted, and slow, like the world had been wrapped in something thick and I was moving through it rather than in it. I drifted somewhere between here and nowhere, between conscious and not conscious, between holding on and letting go.Kael's arms held me. They were strong and steady around me. His heartbeat was loud against my ear, grounding me and being the only real thing in this moment. I focused on it and counted every beat. It was the only thing that kept me from drifting further.But the cold continued to spread from my neck outward—through my shoulders, down my spine, threading through my veins like something looking for purchase. The mark. I knew it was incomplete and wrong. It was burning now in a way it hadn't before—deeper, more insistent, like something trying to take hold despite the rejection.My breath stuttered, and pain flickered—sharp, unfamiliar, and dangerous in a way I didn’t have a name for yet."Ayla." Tala's voice cut through t
Ayla’s POVThe forest is quieter this morning, as if everything is holding its breath, watching me flee from this miserable pack.I ignore the feeling and keep moving.I’ve only taken the basics—the clothes on my back and the money I saved from working at the coffee shop. It isn’t much, but at leas
Ryker’s POVI’m awake before I should be and groan out loud as my eyes flicker open. My head still spins from too much eggnog last night.I press my hand against my head, trying to stop the feeling. I lie there for a second, staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out what pulled me out of a soundl
Ayla’s POVThe closer I get to the packhouse, the louder the world becomes again—voices carry through the trees, followed by laughter and music. It sounds so bright against the darkness and quiet outside that it leaves a coldness under my skin.Every sound inside the packhouse hits my ears wrong; it
Ayla’s POVAlpha Jack and Luna Ria don’t stand in my way when I get up and head toward the door a second time. They know it’s time for me to leave.With one last silent nod, I exit the packhouse and slip into the cold.It’s dark now, the wind howling through the trees in the distance.I head toward







